


To Do It Again and Again

by CrzA, Scarpath, Underecho



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Temporary Character Death, loads lots of loads, papa sans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-09-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 11:51:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7800766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrzA/pseuds/CrzA, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarpath/pseuds/Scarpath, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Underecho/pseuds/Underecho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frisk doesn't have control of the resets. They just happen anytime she dies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Song for this fic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1YQgjpnJdo  
> Suggested by Nox Lunaria  
> (If we get more songs suggested, it might become a playlist instead of just a song *wink*)

Frisk couldn’t stand it. So many people hurt her, and she can’t even dodge well. So she dies. Again. And again. When she finally got past Toriel, they were relieved for only a short period of time.

 

Then, they met another monster. And there wasn’t a save between them and Toriel. If he killed her, she would have to face Toriel again.

 

Again, the only thing Frisk knows anymore. The sight of the skeleton monster holding out his hand terrified her. A new monster, another again.

 

She turned, tears streaking her face.

 

Sans was hiding underneath the trees’ shadow when he heard the creak of the door to the ruins. He had heard the fighting going on behind it when he came for his daily knock knock joke practice with the lady that stood on the other side. If he was going to be honest, he felt terrified.

 

A sense of deja vu had plagued him in the past few days, or was it hours? It was hard to tell. His soul nearly jumped out of his chest when he saw what looked like a human stepping out. But when he heard the lady’s voice still, he felt relieved.

 

But still, something wasn’t quite right. Something was amiss. The human walked off and continued through the trail. He stepped from behind the forest’s safety and followed, his mind going a mile a minute. Was this a threat? They looked small, a child… But then again children had gone through before and wreaked havoc.

 

The snap of a twig echoed and he mentally kicked himself for not noticing it before. Welp, his cover was blown. He measured his options carefully. He guessed he’d have to see what this child was capable of. He extended out his hand and prepared to talk.

 

“T u r n  a  r o u n d  a n d  s h a k e  m y  h a n d.” Frisk turned at the command, pulling her hand up to meet that of the skeleton. She jumped at a loud farting noise, letting out hysteric laugh.

 

With tears still falling down her face, Frisk wondered what kind of attacks this monster would use against her. She dared to hope that, maybe, since the monster had talked to her before starting battle he wouldn’t start a battle at all.

 

The monster seemed laid back, and had even started off with a gag! He couldn’t be mean, right?

 

Somehow, her hope only tore her up inside, leaving her visibly sobbing.

 

“heheh the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick, it’s ALWAYS funny. anyways, your a human, right? that’s hilarious. i’m sans. sans the skeleton.

 

The human’s reaction certainly wasn’t something he was expecting. She was crying and then she laughed and then she cried again? Sheesh, the kid had issues. But she definitely didn’t _seem_ threatening… He wondered…

 

“i’m actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. but… y’know… i don’t really care about capturing anybody. now my brother, papyrus… he’s a human-hunting FANATIC.”

 

She looked to be smiling shyly now. He supposed even the mention of his cool brother would make someone smile despite not knowing him. “hey, actually, I think that’s him over there. i have an idea. go through this gate thingy. yeah, go right through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone.”

 

Deep inside his chest Sans felt this ever growing anxiety. Was he really just about to show this human, this potential threat, to his brother? But she was giggling, how harmful could she be? He felt so conflicted. His hands were twitching to end her there but at the same time… Could she be the cause of all this weird deja vu?

 

He spied a conveniently shaped lamp out of the corner of his eye socket. Hmm… That could be a nice test…

 

When the fight didn’t come, Frisk allowed herself to relax. Hopefully, this meant that she could get to the next save before she died. She had realized that the less hope she had, the more likely she was to start from the beginning again. So not having to fight two stronger monsters in a row was really good.

 

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the monster, Sans, telling her about his ‘bro’. She couldn’t help but giggle when she saw his fice light up when he realized his bro was coming their way. The shadow she hadn’t even realized was there lifted from his face as he ushered her forward.

 

This brother of his seemed... loud. Not even in clear sight yet and she could hear his loud steps. She glanced back at Sans in time to see him with a dark look on his face. He looked at a nearby lamp, and his expression relaxed.

 

The kid immediately took the suggestion. That was a nice sign. She played along perfectly even when he purposefully mentioned the lamp to his brother. She could’ve taken that opportunity to reveal herself but she didn’t. Just like he asked… When his bro finally started walking away and was far enough that he wouldn’t see her is when she finally came out. She approached him carefully, but with a big goofy smile on her face.

 

“you oughta get going. he might come back. and if he does…” He paused for effect, judging her every move and expression. “... you’ll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes.”

 

She giggled slightly. He couldn’t help but let his grin reach his eyes. She was kind of cute. In a could possibly try to murder them all kind of way… Even so, she didn’t make a move to leave for a moment, just laughing silently to herself.

 

“what’s the holdup? look there’s nothin to be afraid of. it’s just a dark cavern filled with skeletons and horrible monsters.” Her face fell then. Good, she took the hint. Just a safety measure. But perhaps he wouldn’t have to break the promise he made the nice lady behind the door. At least not yet.

 

“Al-alright.” Frisk said, downtrodden. She turned walking away.

 

“Actually, hey...” At this, Frisk perked up, turning back to face the kind monster. Maybe he didn’t actually want her to leave?

 

(Frisk didn’t consider how hypocritical that thought was. First they practically ran from someone who wanted nothing more than for her to stay, then was heartbroken that he wanted her to leave?)

 

“Hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor? I was thinking... my brother’s been kind of down lately... he’s never seen a human before. And seeing you might just make his day.” Seeing Frisk’s look of concern, he continued, “Don’t worry, he’s not dangerous. Even if he tries to be.”

 

Frisk thought about it for a moment. But, maybe not a long one. Why not? Sans had been so kind to her, she should return the favor. She nodded, with a small “Mmhm!”

 

“Thanks a million. I’ll be up ahead.” He responded, before turning and walking away. Back where they came. When he said he was going to be up ahead. So he walked in the other direction. _‘Weirdo’_

 

As soon as he was out of sight, he teleported himself up ahead, hiding back in with the trees. He tilted his head to one side when he saw her hover around a single spot for a strange amount of time. There didn’t seem to be anything of interest there that he could see. He shrugged it off as it being a child’s weird attention span and kept watching, lurking in the darkness.

 

He watched her keep walking until she encountered another monster. He clenched his jaw. This was it. Her actions here would finally tell him for sure what he could expect of this human.

 

She tried to strike up a conversation with the monster. Well that was… Something else… The poor Snowdrake tried his best with his jokes. Sans thought maybe he’d teach him a few of his own. The human got hit by one of the Snowdrake’s attacks and he actually felt bad. That was strange. Why would he feel bad? If the human died that was no skin off his bones. But then he did promise the lady…

 

He sighed wondering if he should intervene but then the monster told another joke and the human laughed. A little forced, kid, could’ve tried harder. But then Snowdrake didn’t want to fight anymore and she let him go. Just like that. He hummed in thought. Maybe the kid wasn’t so bad after all.

 

Frisk didn’t know what to think about Snowdrake at first, but he seemed ok. Except for the fact that he was, you know, trying to kill her. And succeeded. More than once.

 

Frisk REALLY sucked at dodging.

 

She was caught off guard by a bad pun, causing her to let out a strained laugh. This encouraged the monster, and she was finally able to stop the fight. The Snowdrake walked off. Frisk sat in the snow for a moment, ‘cooling off’.

 

It was a good five minutes until she was able to push herself forward, mumbling about a promise.

 

She finally came upon the pair of brothers. She almost wondered how Sans had gotten ahead of her, but figured he must have taken a different route while she sat.

 

“So, as I was saying about Undyne-” Frisk’s appearance caught the attention off the taller skeleton. He looked at her. Then he looked at Sans, who looked at her. Then, he looked at her while Sans looked at him. This continued for a dizzying moment, before The two finally stopped spinning in circles, seeming dizzy. They faced away from Frisk.

 

“Sans!! Oh my gosh!! Is that... A HUMAN!?!?!??!?!”

 

“Uhhh... Actually, I think that’s a rock”

 

“Oh.” Papyrus responded, wearing a look of faked disappointment.

 

“Hey, what’s in front of the rock?” Sans’ voice held a teasing tone.

 

“Oh my God!!! (Is... Is that a human?)” The question made Frisk wonder if the disappointment was as fake as she had thought.

 

“(yes)” Sans responded, his voice just as much of a stage whisper as Papyrus’. Which is to say, not a very good one.

 

At this point, Frisk was barely holding a straight face. Sans had seemed so hesitant to ask her to meet Papyrus, and she really didn’t want to hurt either brother’s feelings.

 

The kid looked to be struggling to not break into a smile, or laugh. Maybe both. Papyrus was so excited though. Nothing that could make Sans’ bro this happy could possibly be evil. One look at the taller skeleton’s face and it would warm anyone’s heart.

 

“Oh my God!!! Sans! I finally did it!! Undyne will… I’m gonna… I’ll be so… Popular!!! Popular!!! Popular!!!”

 

At this point the human finally cracked, which seemed to make Papyrus somewhat flustered. Sans couldn’t help his grin twitching slightly too. “...’ahem’ Human! You shall not pass this area! I, the GREAT Papyrus, will stop you!!! I will then capture you! You will be delivered to the capital! Then… Then! I’m not sure what’s next.”

 

She actually snorted at that. “In any case! Continue… Only if you dare!!!” And then his bro wandered off again in a chorus of Nyeh! that never failed to make Sans happy. He looked back at the child in front of him.

 

“well, that went well. don’t sweat it, kid. i’ll keep an eyesocket out for ya.” The wink may have been a bit too much, but he couldn’t resist.

 

As he walked away, he didn’t fail to notice something quite troubling. For some reason it felt like he’d said something like that before already. That weird sense that things were happening again, and again. It only started happening since the kid appeared. But she seemed fine, she was even being nice to his bro.

 

Without knowing what else to do, Sans simply hid back in the shadows to watch the human continue her journey through to Snowdin.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can we stop the agains?

Frisk continued forward, meeting Snowdrake again. Again. Again. Then the met Doggo for the first time. Again. Again. Again to Snowdrake. Again.

 

It felt like eons before Sans appeared up ahead. He told Frisk about blue attacks. A few feet later, Ice Cap.

It came closer to Frisk than normal. She swung a fist at it, wishing that it would go away.

 

It dissolved to dust.

 

Dead.

 

Frisk walked off a cliff.

 

Again.

 

Snowdrake. Again.

 

Doggo. Again. Again.

 

Sans and blue attacks. No again.

 

Ice Cap. Again. Again.

 

Forward. Ice Cap alive this time. Much better.

 

After Ice Cap left, Sans saw the kid let out a huge sigh of relief. She looked just about ready to give up, which he found a tad strange, after all she seemed to be doing so well. He walked up ahead to meet with his brother before the human came by.

 

The puzzle went by without incident, Paps did show her the way but he wasn’t about to crush his cool bro’s dreams. He could see her trying to hide a smile when she followed his path perfectly. When the human approached the short skeleton he had to thank her, it was only polite. But then, out of nowhere, he started telling her about his brother’s battle body. He couldn’t exactly tell why he was sharing this with her, why he wanted to make a connection, but still, he did. 

 

When she left he lingered behind for a moment, thinking to himself. This child seemed different than the others, for more reasons than he could possibly come up with. She had a tired look to her, despite the fact that from what he’s seen she hasn’t done much but dodge a few attacks and talk to some monsters. He looked at the ground. Maybe he’d treat her to something if she kept being good.

 

Papyrus was the only thing that could break Frisk out of her haze anymore. Even when Sans was selling her fried snow, she just stared at him blankly, nodding at every price raise. 

 

Junior Jumble. Not important. Keep going.

 

Dog marriage: again. Again. Solve the Jumble. Maybe Papyrus was right, crosswords seem easier. Again. Again. Again.  _ Again. _ **_Again._ **

 

_ ‘Don’t care. Can’t stand this. It won’t stop, so I just won't go forward.’  _ Frisk didn’t even pay heed to the tears running down their face.

 

‘ _ Cold. It’s so cold out here. Maybe I can just take a nap, here in the cold. It’s nice, even. Numb. Just a nice, long sleep.’  _  Frisk knew she was being irrational, that sleeping in the cold would just cause another again, but she was just so tired.

 

She could only repeat the same few motions so many times before it got to her. And she was just tired.

 

Sans stared at the kid as she lied down on the snow. What was she doing? It’s freezing out, she should get to Snowdin, sleep at the Inn. _ Ah geez, kid, what are you doing? _ The skeleton couldn’t help but keep staring. The dog guard couple should be up ahead. She looked about to die. What’s wrong? Why was he so concerned anyway?

 

He tapped his foot in the snow impatiently, waiting to see any changes. She looked like her eyes were drooping closed. If she fell asleep here in the snow, she was sure to die. He wanted to tell her to keep going, she was doing great for what he saw. Why was she all of a sudden so discouraged? So… defeated.

 

If he was going to be completely honest, for some reason, he felt the same way. Something just wasn’t sitting quite right with him. Without a second thought, he stepped away from the shadows and walked behind her.

 

“heya, kiddo, you doing alright there?” The human nearly jumped at the sound of his voice, and he felt kind of bad. “don’t mean to be rude or anything but… you look deader than me and i mean… look at me.” She looked at him for a long moment, face sunken and cheeks stained with what he could only assume to be tears. He took off his jacket and handed it to her. “here kid. you need it more than I do.”

 

Frisk took it, sniffling. She gently wrapped it around her shoulders, like a soft, warm, and slightly smelly blanket.

 

“I don’t want to go forward. I-I can’t get past them. It just happens again. Over and over, it happens again.” Frisk started sobbing in earnest now, hiding her face in the coat so she wouldn’t see his disbelief. No one else seemed to realize that things were happening again, and she doubted Sans would believe her. But why not try, when it would go back.

 

For a split second, Sans felt like he was about to pass out. Did he hear her right? No, he must have imagined things, surely… No… He heard her clearly, there was no doubt about it in his mind now. Just like that all his suspicions were confirmed. In that one moment, that child had just told him the reason for all the unbearable deja vu he’d been enduring.

 

“you’re the cause of all this…” He mumbled more to himself than anything else, trying to make sense of the words. His sockets were devoid of light. At the same time he felt angry, sad and relieved. It was a strange mix of emotions. Although, he couldn’t quite pinpoint what caused which. “are you doing it on purpose? is this a game to you? are you just playing with our lives?” He felt like he was probably being a bit harsh, but he had to ask, he just had to. Everyone he loved was at stake.

 

“I want it to STOP!” Frisk ranted, upset. Her anger lasted for all of two seconds, when she realized that he remembered. “Y-you remember? I’m n-not the only one?” She asked, the hope in her voice almost painful.

 

He at least knew some of it! She wouldn’t have to face it alone! 

 

“Nevermind that, I guess I should tell you a bit more. I don’t know very much about it, but this happened even before I fell into the Underground. I thought it was some sort of blessing, I got hit by a truck, then bam! Two minutes earlier and I ran the other direction from the bully.

 

“But now, I see this as more of a curse. I’m not very good at fighting, and I can’t even dodge well. I just die, and die, and die.

 

“My parents made an enemy of someone powerful. Assassins were sent at me, and I’m not even sure why. I accidentally fell into the Underground while running from one. I die here even more often. At least it doesn’t hurt when a monster kills me, just kind of a tug when they pull my soul away. But I can’t stay dead.

 

“I-I guess you just have to tag along as I keep going through stuff again, sorry. You shouldn’t have to deal with my failures. But I can’t even get past the dog couple ahead. They killed me eight times!”

 

Remembering her most recent deaths brought the tears back full strength. She curled up, seeming small.

 

“wow… i’m… um… that’s something…” Sans felt at a loss for words. Seeing the human curl up into a tiny ball his soul sunk. He sat down on the snow next to her and exhaled sharply. “i don’t exactly remember what happened. i just get this weird sense that things are repeating themselves. like deja vu.” He explained.

 

She didn’t make a move to say anything else, just tugging the jacket over herself to hide within it. He rubbed the back of his skull. He was never very good at comforting people. That was Papyrus’ thing, he was the happy-go-lucky ball of energy. He was just… His lazy brother who did a bad job of taking care of him. Sans sighed deeply, his eye lights now returned and shifting towards the sniffling child.

 

“i kind of made a promise to someone that i’d keep ya safe.” He chuckled darkly. “guess i’ve been doing a bad job, huh? sorry ‘bout that…”

 

He lifted his hand only to put it back down over his lap again. But when he saw the human just keep crying, now reduced to sobs he didn’t know what else to do. He awkwardly put an arm over her shoulders and pulled her to him in a lousy excuse for a side hug. “i’ll try harder from now on. if you want my help that is…” He offered quietly. It seemed to him like it was the only thing he could do.

 

Lost for words, Frisk simply shifted so she could hug Sans tightly, nodding into his chest. She took deep, shuddering breaths as she attempted to calm down.

 

“I-I’m So-sorry y-you were brought in-into this. S-sorry.” Frisk trailed off into a quiet tangent of sorries, before Finally seeming to calm down. She took one more deep shuddering breaths before settling into Sans, not quite asleep, but not far from it.

 

The human finally settled down, holding onto Sans tightly. He sat there looking down at her, slightly uncomfortable. He wasn’t much of a people person. Sure, he told his jokes, people laughed, the regulars at Grillby’s liked him well enough, but he never got too close to anyone but his bro. And now here he was, with a human latched tightly onto him. 

 

After a couple of minutes she seemed to relax completely, her breathing steadying but for the occasional sob that still plagued her.

 

He closed his eyes. A nap did sound like a wonderful idea… 

 

His eyes shot open. Jacket or no jacket it was still far too cold for her to sleep out here. He looked around in a panic. He couldn’t just leave her here. And he didn’t want to wake her up either… What was he supposed to do now?

 

Eye sockets wide he gaped at the sleeping child. He groaned internally.

 

“just what did i get myself into?” He hugged her tighter to him, wrapping both arms around her. Then he eased the magic of his soul onto her. That ought to keep her warm, at least for now.

 

The human sighed, content and a light blue rushed to his cheekbones. He frowned realising he was growing fond of the child. Placing a hand on top of her head he pet her gently.

 

“guess i’ll have to wait till you’ve rested.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scarpath here~ Got some cute fluff and some plot in this one.

A gentle warmth lulled Frisk to a deep rest that felt like ages in coming. When she finally woke, it hadn’t felt like too much time had passed, but she was still satisfied. She found herself on Sans’ lap, his arms wrapped snuggly around her and his chin rested on her head.

It filled her with a warmth that she hadn’t felt in far too long. Not since long before she had grown into an older child. It let Frisk feel more loved than ever before. She even felt that might be the right word, even though she knew Sans for a short while.

She shifted a bit, unable to tell if Sans was awake. When her small movements got no reaction, she settled down for a little bit longer. As she waited, she realized that she was steadily growing colder. How had she been so warm for so long? When she started shivering, she knew it was time to wake Sans.

“Sans? I’m getting cold. We should move on. Besides, who knows how long Papy-” Frisk stopped talking abruptly when she looked up. Papyrus stood there, with his phone pointing towards them.

“Nyeh heh he! I just got the perfect picture!” Papyrus said, turning the screen to show Frisk and a now very awake Sans.

“Aww man, my phone can’t do pictures! That is a great picture!” Frisk said, excited. She got up off of Sans’ lap and went to look closer at the picture. It was the only picture taken in years that she actually looked happy in.

Embarrassing situation or not, Frisk loved it. 

Sans’ eye sockets went dark as soon as he heard the word ‘picture’ come out of his brother’s mouth. As if being found like this wasn’t bad enough, now it was recorded on a phone forever.

“gimme that.” He immediately said, getting up and reaching for the phone in Papyrus’ hand.  
In turn, the taller skeleton lifted his arm as high as he could, which much to Sans’ dismay, was far higher than he could ever hope to reach. “Now brother, the human obviously likes the picture, you’re not about to delete it.”

“who said anything about deleting anything?” Sans muttered in his own defense.

“Or have the phone mysteriously fall into the core.”

“that was one time.” Sans said angrily. A soft giggle pulled him out of his thoughts and his head snapped in the direction it came from.

The human had her hand over her mouth, trying desperately not to break down laughing. Sans scowled. He was starting to regret every decision he made since she walked out of the ruins.

“Thanks for letting me sleep, Sans.” Frisk said, after Sans seemed to be steaming instead of trying to destroy the picture.

“Let’s keep going. I’m sure Papyrus has more awesome puzzles up ahead!” This seemed to excite Papyrus, and they went forward so Frisk could solve more puzzles.

Because they were walking in a group, the dog couple simply gave them an odd look(sniff?). It didn’t take long for Frisk to solve the other puzzles, and soon they were standing at a long bridge. Papyrus seemed nervous about something.

“Human! I have one last puzzle here for you. However... I’m not sure it’s suitable for a puzzle master such as yourself!”

“Why do you say that, Papyrus?” Frisk asked, confused.

“Well you see, This is the Gauntlet of Deadly Terror! However, you are too nice for this puzzle! I didn’t think humans could be so nice when I built this one... Despite all of his grumbling, it would seem you have made Sans happy. I wouldn’t want to hurt you, so this puzzle is Not Good.” Papyrus said, somewhat subdued.

His heartfelt speech really struck something in Frisk. She looked up at Papyrus, awed. “I guess Sans isn’t the only one happier. Honestly, the reason I like that picture so much is because that’s the happiest I’ve been in a long time.” Frisk looked down as she said this, fidgeting a little.

Sans pulled his hood over his head as his brother spoke. Happy… Why would he say that? If anything she was making Papyrus happy, which in turn made him happy, so really it was more because of Papyrus that his mood shifted… 

But when he heard her talking about the picture, and how it was the happiest she’d been in a while, he couldn’t help but notice how his grin grew slightly. Maybe she did make him at least a little happy… He looked at the other two from under his hoodie and pointed forward.

“snowdin is up ahead. you look like you could use a meal.” At the mention of food Papyrus’ face lit up.

“Oh yes! That’s a wonderful idea, Sans! I should feed the human!” He grabbed the human’s hand and started dragging her behind him.

“oh no… i’m sorry, kiddo…” Sans grinned at her sheepishly and she just stared back confused. “i’ll treat ya later.” He winked.

Frisk quickly learned why Sans was sorry. She struggled to keep a straight face as she ate the rubbery spaghetti.

“How high did you have the heat?” Frisk asked, somehow keeping the disgust out of her voice.

“As high as it would go!” Papyrus responded, glad to share his cooking secrets.

“Hmm,” Frisk started, “Usually I keep it at halfway. Takes a bit longer, but helps keep it from getting too soft.”

“Interesting. I might try that in the future, Human”

Mission: Improve Papyrus’ cooking without hurting his feelings successful.

Sans was impressed. That was some next level sneaking to actually get Papyrus to consider cooking anyway other than how Undyne taught him. And without telling him his cooking was uh… less than impressive. He chuckled to himself, hiding his face in his arms as he leaned forward, closing his eyes. What better way to celebrate than by taking a nice long…

“SANS!” He snapped out of his already drowsy state at the sound of his brother’s reprimand. “Sleeping while we have a guest? I ought to teach you some manners.” 

The smaller skeleton groaned, but stood up anyway. He looked at Frisk and noticed that she was still trying hard to keep the spaghetti down. Considering his options he started for the door of his house.

“come on, i’ll show ya around. there’s an inn you can rest up at and a shop where you can get treats.” He smiled at her waiting for her to respond. 

Frisk was all too willing to go with Sans. And more than a little relieved that Papyrus hadn’t come along. Especially when the first place Sans went to was decidedly NOT the inn or shop.

When they went into Grillby’s, they were met with an excited chorus of “Sans!”s. They ended up buying a couple things of fries(“I don’t think I could stomach an entire burger after that).

Frisk laughed when half the bottle of ketchup landed on their fries. Sans offered her his in payment for the prank, but Frisk just waved him off, grabbing a ketchup soaked fry and sticking it in her mouth. Sans tried to stop her, but it was already too late.

“Is this... Kool-aid?” She exclaimed, to Sans’ bemusement.

“If you didn’t take the bottle, I was gonna drink out of it. I’ve been waiting to try to play this prank for ages...” Sans said, amused. “I’ll admit, pranks are usually Papyrus’ thing, but I drop a good one every once and awhile. But you should have seen the King’s face when I just chugged an entire bottle of ‘ketchup’. It was great.”

Sans laughed to himself at the memory and then sighed sadly. That was all before… He shook his head, there was no point in dwelling on the past, what did it matter anyway? He turned his eyes to the counter, playing with a fry absentmindedly.

“y’know, your arrival is kind of a change of pace around here. usually everything’s the same all the time. we have nowhere else to go. there’s only so much you can do here.” His gaze drifts to Frisk for a long moment. “and for people like you…” He drifts off, the mention of the King of the Underground brought a painful realisation to the short skeleton.

If she was here, it wouldn’t be for long. He promised the lady behind the door he’d protect her, but what was he to do when she finally got to Asgore?

“welp, what are you going to do now?” He finally asked.

“I’ll admit, I’m kind of scared. Monsters keep trying to kill me, and I don’t understand why. And it is just so much. Dying may not hurt as much when caused by monster hand, but it still sucks. Like a black void. If there is an afterlife, it’s out of my reach.

“And the thought of never dying... To be honest, it terrifies me. What if I can’t even die of old age? We’ll be stuck like this forever. If I have kids, I’ll never get to see them grow up. They will NEVER grow up.

“And, this isn’t a power that anyone should have, even for other reasons. O-One of the repeats, I killed Icecap. It was by accident, I didn’t know that simply pushing him away and wishing he was gone could even do that. But... I felt so strong in that moment.

“I killed someone... And I enjoyed it. Then, I killed myself, and it never happened. What if there is ever a point that I can’t stop myself?

“I-I’m scared, Sans...” Frisk said, looking away for a moment. She then turned back to Sans, meeting his gaze. Her expression had hardened.

“Please promise me that if I can’t stop myself... That you will. I don’t ever want to get to a point that I would hurt Papyrus, or... you.”

“heh…” Sans laughed darkly. He slowly turned away from her, his hands clenching to fists. “promises… i’m no good with promises kid. i already made one i shouldn’t have and you’re asking me to promise you something that would go right against it.”

He fell silent.

“Please... If I get like that, I won’t hardly be me anymore. I mean, it feels so different than any time before. There were a few times that I managed to turn the weapons of an assassin on them before, but it never felt like it did in that moment.

“I think there was something there, when I fell. I get urges that are so strange, and not like me at all. I mean, I hate chocolate, but when I saw a bar of it a while ago, I was halfway through it before I even realized it.” Frisk bared her metaphorical heart to Sans, trusting him more than she ever thought she would trust anyone.

The mention of chocolate caused a few cogs to start turning in Sans’ head but with everything she was asking him to do he couldn’t think of anything else. He fixed his eyes on her, jaw clenched.

“and… what makes you think i can stop you?” He spoke through gritted teeth. “what even gave you the impression that i’m the one to ask for such a thing?”

“You’re the strongest monster I’ve... seen?” Frisk started off confident, before trailing off. 

“Huh? Wait, how do I know that? I’ve never seen you fight. Not once... This doesn’t make sense.”

“I can’t figure out what’s going on, Sans.”

At her last words anger rose in Sans. The skeleton grabbed her by the collar and pulled her close to his face, his pupils nowhere in sight. “what are you hiding from me kid? are you having fun? did you befriend me and my bro just so it would hurt more when you turn against-” He stopped dead in his tracks at the look of pure terror on her face.

Why was he suddenly so angry with her? She didn’t do anything, not really, she was letting him know she was scared and he was just… He slowly let the grip loosen on her shirt.

“i’m…” He couldn’t get any other words out. At this point everyone at Grillby’s had fallen silent. 

Frisk shrunk back from Sans, before realizing that he looked just as confused as she was. And just as scared. She let out a half sob, before surging to hug Sans. She hid her face, but it didn’t do much good to hide her terror when she was sobbing hysterically. And out in public, too.

“Sans you may be my best customer but you know the rules no threats or fights in my bar! And pay your tab!” Turning to Frisk Grillby asked

“What can I get you? Maybe hot chocolate?”

“heh… sorry grillbz, got a little hot headed there. But uh… she doesn’t like chocolate.” Sans nodded towards the crying girl holding on to him. He poked her slightly to get her attention. “maybe we should go somewhere else, kiddo. and sorry… really…”

He turned to the bartender and smirked at him. “i’ll pay it next time. you know i’m good for it.”


	4. Chapter 4

Frisk took a deep breath before backing away from Sans a bit and wiping her eyes off. “Where should we go? I don’t think you want Papyrus to watch or hear us with how we’ve been acting...”

 

She was right. That was definitely a bad idea considering the circumstances. Sans got up from his seat and motioned for Frisk to follow him outside. Once there, he thought for a long moment. 

 

“we can talk back at my sentry station, should be private enough.” He extended his hand towards her. “come on, i know a shortcut.”

 

As they walked out of the bar, Frisk suddenly did a double take. They were just at the bar, and now... And geez, that felt odd. Like one moment they were there, then they just... weren’t. And suddenly, they were at Sans’ station.

 

“Well, that wasn’t disorienting at all!” Frisk exclaimed, using more than her fair share of sarcasm. The only response was a laugh.

 

“Why are we acting like this though? I don’t think you’re the type of person to just snap like that... It’s almost like... We forgot something.” Frisk said, with a growing sense of horror as she realized what that might mean.

 

“that’s an excellent question. to which i have no answer.” Sans replied, leaning against the wooden station, feeling suddenly exhausted.

 

That outburst of emotion shook him more than he’d like to admit. He stuck his hands inside his jacket’s pockets while looking at Frisk intensely. 

 

“i feel like maybe this isn’t the first time we’ve met… is it?” He didn’t give her time to even answer. “if you’re going to come out and ask me to end you if you lose control without even knowing what i can or can’t do something just isn’t right. and if you actually know what i can do, then, kid… i don’t know what to tell ya.”

 

“W-What if that means I did lose control? But why would we forget? I don’t even know who I am anymore!” Frisk seemed overwhelmed, or just plain scared.

 

“I can’t even trust myself to be a good person anymore. Because if our emotions are anything to go by, I probably can’t say I even have any good left in me.” The light in Frisk’s eyes seemed to vanish.

 

“hey, don’t say that. i mean you’ve made Paps happy, you’ve spared everyone as best you could, and when you didn’t, you…” 

 

Sans looked at Frisk’s face and felt horrible. If anything she was the nicest human to stop by the underground, and this, whatever it was, seemed to be breaking her spirit. It almost looked like she had no hope left in her.

 

He stepped closer to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “you talking to me right now is proof that there’s good in you. you could’ve hurt me, or anyone, but you didn’t.” He paused when she didn’t say anything, trying to think of how he could make her feel better.

 

He couldn’t come up with anything useful. Feeling defeated himself, he said the only thing he could think of.

 

“i’m sorry.”

 

Frisk looked up to Sans, somehow with a tiny glimmer of hope in her heart.

 

“Y-You don’t hate me?” She asked, voice raw with emotion.

 

“no. i think you wormed your way into a heart i don’t even have, kid.” He said honestly, and looking away. “i didn’t know what to think of you at first, that’s true. but i kept my eye on you. and each and every one of your actions was merciful. how can i hate someone who made my bro so excited?”

 

Sans kept his eyes on the snow covered ground. “you even made me happy too.”

 

“Made you happy? Hah, we’ve barley met, at least as far as I can remember, and you’re... Heck, you’ve been nicer than my own parents ever were. You somehow already got to the point that you  _ care  _ even after a few days.” Frisk said, almost ranting as she stated how she felt he treated her.

 

“that’s just the thing isn’t it?” He chuckled slightly. “we’ve only just met and i kind of feel like… maybe that’s not the case? it’s strange, now that i think about it. after i saw you breaking down in the snow i just… i felt responsible for you.”

 

He placed a hand on top of her head, ruffling her hair. “look, this isn’t going anywhere, i don’t think. let’s just get some badly needed rest and we can figure it out together.”

 

“Yeah, ok.” Frisk said, yawning at the mention of sleep. “Geez, with all the agains, today has been so long... I guess I’ll go over to the inn, then. Although... Could you do another of your shortcuts with me? I... I don’t want to deal with the sentries or the others right now...”

 

Looking at her expression, Sans immediately got a thought. “actually, i’ll do ya one better. Papyrus would love a sleepover.” He winks at her before taking her hand in his. “so what do you say?” 

 

Frisk knew her expression said it all, but she still chimed in with a squeaky “Really?”

 

Sans simply smiled at her, not even bothering to answer such an obvious question. He teleported them right outside their house. “do you wanna tell him the good news or should i?” He asked with a smirk.

 

“Ohhhh, I’d love to!” Frisk said, practically jumping towards the door. She went in, loudly saying, “Papyrus, Papyrus, Sans said I could sleep here tonight!”

 

“HELLO HUMAN, you're here for a sleepover shall we make more spaghetti!” Papyrus asked with enthusiasm abounding. “Or shall we watch a movie before bed.”

 

Papyrus then noticed that the human was falling asleep on it's feet. “Maybe we should just head for bed instead.” He said as he lead the sleepy Frisk to the couch to sleep. “Good night little human”

 

_ Dark. The darkness was well, very dark. Somehow, It was darker than anything Frisk had dealt with before. Except... _

 

_ “Did I die again?” Frisk asked herself, somewhat confused. _

 

_ The darkness seemed to say“Hello young one I see you have learned to touch the void, how do you feel?” It came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. _

 

_ “Uhhh...” Frisk mumbled as she tried to describe the feeling. “Honestly, I feel the same as I do when I die. Surrounded with black and frozen from time.” _

 

_ “Interesting, very interesting, the void seems to have given you temporary control over time. You must avoid using in or the void may capture and hold you” The strange voice said. As a face appeared out of the darkness it looked skeletal with large cracks near the eyes. _

 

_ “I didn’t ask for this! It just... happens every time I die. If what you saying is right, though, its a good thing Sans said he’d help me out. I mean, its kinda silly to me. I’m just this random kid that fell, and in just a short time he seems to care about me a lot. Kinda like I imagine a father would, if they bothered to be one. _

 

_ Sans was startled by Frisk’s voice. Most of all, Frisk’s words. A warmth that he hasn’t felt in a long time settled in his chest and he wonders why. “Frisk?” He called. He couldn’t exactly see her, but he was sure that he heard her. And what she said… Would he bother to be that for her? The question kind of hurt. It felt like she thought he didn’t care about her like that. He realised that he did.  _

 

_ “Da-Sans?” _

 

_ He looked around for her, but all he saw was darkness. He wanted to reach out to her so badly but he didn’t know where she was. “F-frisk i’m…” The words died in his mouth. _

 

_ “Sans you have found your way here as well this child's influence is stronger than I feared my son you both must leave as soon as possible” the voice said as he suddenly caused hands with holes in them jumped out of the darkness flying at Sans and Frisk. _

 

“Aggh!” Frisk shouted, jolting awake. Her heart racing, she sat on the corner of the couch, trying to calm down. For some reason, the terror seemed to linger, and she started to cry for what felt like the millionth time recently. She tried to keep quiet, but found that it was very hard when she was so riled up, soft sobs ringing through the air.

 

Sans sat bolt upright in his bed so quickly he actually fell off the side. Face first onto the floorboards, soul in complete distress, he immediately got to hands and knees, eyes darting around the room. His breathing was accelerated and ragged. Carefully he rubbed the spot on his arm where the disembodied hands had grabbed hold of him.

 

It felt like his bones were tingling with a sort of electric jolt. As he tried to calm himself down, the dream still fresh in his mind, his thoughts drifted to what he’d heard Frisk say. He closed his eyes, sighing, there was no way something like that could ever be true.

 

But in the midst of his musings, he heard a faint cry coming from downstairs. His head snapped in the door’s direction and he jumped to his feet. For some reason, walking, or even running didn’t seem fast enough. He teleported himself behind the couch in the blink of an eye.

 

“Frisk? what’s wrong? did something happen?” He asked, concern dripping thick from his words.

 

“I-it was so dark. A-and there was something there. It-He said I needed to leave, a-and he grabbed at me, and it wasn’t that scary but I can’t calm down and something feels wrong and I don’tknowwhat’sgoi-”

 

Sans couldn’t take it anymore. Her terrified state was enough to get him to run to her and take her into his arms, holding her tightly. He rubbed her back and her head gently, trying desperately to get her to calm down, and to comfort her. 

 

“hey, it’s alright, it was just a bad dream.” He said in a whisper, not taking note of what exactly she was saying in between the sobs. “i’m… i’m here for ya, kiddo. just breathe.”

 

“I don’t think it was just a dream.” Frisk said into his chest. “You were there too, weren’t you? With the darkness and the voice and the hands?” She had mostly calmed down, but was still a little panicky at the last few words.

 

The short skeleton froze. That wasn’t just a dream? The events of it started to sink into his mind. He held Frisk tighter still. He heard that voice too. And it called him ‘my son’... And that also meant that what Frisk said… His hands grabbed Frisk’s shirt.

 

“you… i heard…” He stumbled over his words, his mind racing. Sans didn’t know what to focus on. “what else did he tell you? did he hurt you?” He finally choked out, deciding that her safety was more important than anything else he might want to know.

 

“No, he just scared me. I almost think... I almost think he was more scared that I was. He really thought I was in danger there. He said something about the void trying to control me or something.” Frisk said, before finally mostly relaxing. She leaned into Sans, her eyes drifting. She yawned again, setting her head on Sans’ chest.

 

“I’m falling asleep again, Dad. Can we ta-” Frisk cut off as she realized what she had just said. 

 

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say, sorry, I won’t call you that again” Frisk stuttered out, crawling off of Sans’ lap as if fearing he would get angry.

 

As soon as that word escaped her lips, Sans’ soul leaped in his chest. He barely heard her apologizing, but as soon as she started to try and get away, he stopped her. She seemed startled, a flash of fear crossing her expression.

 

He pulled her back onto his lap and held her against his chest, pulling her closer and resting her head on his shoulder. “you can call me that as much as you’d like. Frisk…” He choked on his words and then closed his eyes. “thank you…” 

 

He muttered those two words, and then said them again, and again, holding her closer each time. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything else, he was just so happy. Happier than he thought he’d been in a really long time.

 

At first, Frisk was terrified and tense. Then when she realized that he wasn’t angry, she started to relax in Sans’, her adoptive  _ dad’s  _ hold. 

 

“H-he never let me call him dad. M-my f-father, that is.” Frisk said, practically spitting out the last word. “Said it wasn’t proper enough. Like I was some sort of medieval princess, instead of just the daughter of a wealthy businessman. I bet you can be waaaayyyy more of a dad than he ever was.” Frisk trailed off into a yawn, half asleep on Sans’ lap.

 

Sans stroked her face in a gentle caress, smiling down at her. “i’ll do my best, kiddo.” He whispered, noticing that her eyes were already closed and she was quickly drifting off to dreamland.

  
With one last squeeze around her, he relaxed against the couch. “i don’t like making promises… but i promise you that i’ll do everything i can to make you happy.”


	5. Chapter 5

When Frisk awoke, she was still on Sans’ lap. She smiled when she remembered what had happened the night before. She lazily looked around the room, making eye contact with Papyrus. He had his phone out again.

 

“Good morning, Human!” He said, his voice actually quite quiet. “I'm curious, why is Sans here with you?”

 

“Oh, I had a nightmare. He came to help calm me down. Then I accidentally called him dad. I was really tired, so for some reason I thought he was gonna be angry, but he said I could call him dad as much as I want!” Frisk exclaimed, practically floating with happiness. 

 

“Dad~” She said the title again, giving Sans a hug. “He let me call him Dad...”

 

When Frisk hugged him, Sans woke up and smiled down at her before looking back at Papyrus, rubbing the sleep off of his eyes. “heh, still kinda expecting to wake up anytime now, to find this was all just a dream.” He mumbled quietly, not knowing what else to feel but glad.

 

Frisk laughed, before hopping off the couch and running to give Papyrus a hug. He was actually speechless, but when Frisk hugged him, he finally broke out of his stupor.

 

“Does that mean that you will call me Uncle?” He asked, before his grin grew mischievous. When Frisk gave a happy “mmhm!” of assent, his grin grew even more. He then suddenly attacked Frisk with tickles, ruthlessly taking her down until she was a giggling mess on the floor.

 

“Uncle, Uncle!” Frisk laughed out, even though she knew that the pun would just draw out the ticklefest. And true to thought, Papyrus seemed to redouble his efforts, and Frisk could barely even breathe any more.

 

Sans simply laughed at the scene in front of him, leaning back against the couch and savouring the other’s giggling. This felt amazing, the two people he loved most in- He stopped thinking then, eyes darting to the child dissolving into a laughing mess on the floor.

 

Love? He loved her, right?

 

And suddenly all his happiness melted away. He loved this child and she was stuck here, underground. And she was in danger. She would die. Again. And again. And again… 

 

“Dad?” Frisk asked, worried, “What’s wrong?”

 

All of a sudden the air seemed too heavy to breathe. Still, he smiled at her, but it didn’t reach his eyes anymore. “it’s nothin’, kiddo. just thinking.” He said, avoiding her gaze then.

 

It hit him like a ton of bricks. If his reaction at Grillby’s the day before was any indication, something really bad had happened already. And what was stopping something bad from happening again? He hid his face in his hands, lying down on the couch hoping they’d think he was just going to take another nap.

 

Sans felt like the world could come crashing down on him at any moment. It was just a matter of when. For some reason, he knew with an unbearable certainty, his happiness wasn’t going to last.

 

Frisk went to ask Sans more, to pry a little, but she stopped when she saw Papyrus giving her a look that said to leave it.

 

“Human! I recently acquired some eggs. Would you like to come cook them with me?” 

 

“Sure, uncle Paps.” Frisk started following Papyrus, then paused for a moment before going over to give Sans a quick hug. She then went to the kitchen, leaving Sans alone.

 

The short skeleton hugged back, turning his head to see the two of them disappear from view. As soon as they were gone, he let his face fall entirely. He curled in on himself and pulled his hood over his head in hopes that it would block out the rest of the world. He should be happy now. He found someone that made him feel good, that he actually mattered.

 

But deep inside his being was this notion that it was all just an illusion. That in the end things would go back to the same old boring routines. That somehow, all of this didn’t matter. And deeper still, he felt like something horrible was about to happen, if it hadn’t already and he’d simply forgotten somehow.

 

Sans whimpered quietly. Something was going to make this all go away. Something was going to take all his happiness away from him. He didn’t know how he knew, but he did. He felt it as if it were imbedded into his bones. Like a darkness looming over him, waiting to take everything he cared about from him.

 

And he felt powerless to stop it.

 

Frisk walked back into the living room for a moment, pausing when she saw Sans. She couldn’t think of anything to say, so she didn’t. She hopped on the couch, before leaning into Sans.

 

“Love you, Dad. It’ll be alright.”

 

He couldn’t bring himself to say anything, but her words filled him with hope. Sans slowly took her hand in his and squeezed it tightly. It was all he could manage, but he hoped it was enough. He wanted so badly to believe it, that everything would be fine… 

 

He let out a shuddering breath, sockets closing further. He felt really tired. He just wanted to stop thinking. Maybe that would make all these feelings, these fears, go away. He wanted to ask her to stay with him but couldn’t find his voice. So he just squeezed her hand again.

 

“I know it will, ‘cause I’ve got an awesome dad at my side, and if we work together, we make sure it’ll be alright.” Frisk hoped that was what Sans needed to hear. She couldn’t really tell what was wrong, but she hated to see Sans sad.

 

He brought himself to look at her. She was trying so hard to be strong. He could tell. And for him. He chuckled. “yeah kid. you’re right.” He sat up and wrapped his arms around her. “and it’s all because of you. you’re going to make everything alright, i know it.”

 

He still felt like things were messed up, and that anything could happen. But Frisk was right. If they stuck together, everything would be okay. Sans would do anything for her, he realized.

 

“i love ya too.” He finally told her.

 

“Ok, lets see the damage to the omelet Uncle Paps and I were making. I managed to protect at least the first one, so you can have it, but he might have done something to it while I was out here.” Frisk said, changing the subject to something more lighthearted. 

 

She led Sans to the kitchen, keeping her hand in his. As long as he was by her side, she would be happy.

 

He dragged his feet as he trudged along behind her. They were surprised to find that Frisk’s aforementioned omelet still lay untouched where she had left it. He slumped down on a seat and pushed it towards her.

 

“you can have it. not that hungry.” He said quietly, smiling softly.

 

Papyrus immediately frowned at his brother’s refusal to eat, but said nothing. He knew that when Sans was having one of those days there was no point trying to get him to do anything. It was a miracle that he was actually standing.

 

“We can share it! I’ll give you a few bites. You should eat something, at least. You’re nothing but bone!” Frisk offered, using a well placed pun to hopefully get him to at least eat a little food. She gave his hand one last squeeze before running up and grabbing a couple thankfully normal omelettes. She went back to sit at the couch, grabbing Sans’ hand on the way over.

 

She had two forks on her plate, and after settling down with Sans at her side, she handed him one before grabbing her own and digging in. 

 

Sans laughed a little at the joke. But when it finally got down to it, he just poked at the food with the fork not actually doing anything with it. Eating was really the last thing he wanted to do.

 

When he looked at Frisk, however, he saw her eyes staring at him, almost glistening. She almost looked like she was begging for him to at least try and get something down. He couldn’t disappoint a face like that. Sighing he shoved some of the omelet in his mouth.

 

“there, ya happy?” He asked, the grin on his face giving his feigned annoyance away.

 

Frisk nodded excitably, before turning on her side of the plate, scarfing down the food as if she hadn’t eaten in days. When she noticed that the other side of it wasn’t being eaten, she looked up at Sans for a moment, before sighing. She shifted so that her back was to him, leaning on him. She went back to eating, not bugging Sans with words or looks.

 

She just sat back against him, silent.

 

They both jumped slightly when the couch sunk, Papyrus having come to join them. They couldn’t help the small chuckles when they heard him mumbling something about it ‘not being nearly as great as spaghetti’.

 

Sans let his head fall back against the back of the couch. His body still felt heavy and his mind was still troubled. Even so, he allowed himself to relax, Frisk and Papyrus’ presence bringing some peace into his soul.

 

Slowly, he let his mind shut down, one arm resting lazily over Frisk’s shoulders.

 

Frisk ate in silence, happily squished in between her two new family figures. When she was down to her last bite, she turned back to Sans.

 

“Last bite?” She asked him, her tone saying that she felt it to be  _ his  _ last bite. When she got no answer, she realized that Sans was falling asleep. She sighed, plopping the bite in her mouth and setting the plate on the floor in front of the couch. 

 

She turned so she could lay down with her head in his lap. She was curled up tight, but Papyrus gently pulled her legs on his lap, before settling into a comfortable position himself.

 

“I guess we could take a short after meal nap. But it must stay short!” Papyrus acquessed. Frisk gave him a small smile, before allowing herself to drift off into sleep.

 

Sans was rudely awakened by the loud knock (down) on the front door. At the entrance stood Undyne, the captain of the royal guard, mouth open and one good eye wide. His gaze went to Papyrus and then to Frisk before stopping back at the fish monster. Her expression went from confusion, to disbelief, to anger and settled there.

 

Her yellow cat-like eye was fixed on the human.

 

Without a moment to think, Sans got to his feet and stood in front of Frisk. Undyne was already charging forward, with a newly conjured spear in hand. “Get out of my way, punk! I’m not afraid to take care of you if I have to!” She shouted.

 

“Dad?” Frisk said, groggy “What’s-” She cut off when she looked up to see Undyne. She had just a moment to register the spear coming towards her. 

 

When he saw the weapon hurtling at Frisk, full speed, all he had time to do was jump in front of it. He fell to his knees, the excruciating pain knocking the breath right out of him. He looked back at Frisk, she looked horrified, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. But she was fine.

 

She wasn’t hurt. That’s all that mattered to him. At least… At least he wouldn’t have to see her die… He felt so selfish. He reached for her weakly.

 

“NO! DAD!” Frisk shouted. It only took a quick glance up to see the angry fish lady looking completely shocked to tell her that the wound was fatal. She sank to her knees in front of the couch, heartbroken.

 

She reached a hand up to his face, softly pushing his forehead to meet with hers. “I’ll fix this, Dad. I promise. Just wait for me. Don’t let the void consume you. From what that voice said, I will have to go back, I can’t risk the void taking you over. Sorry this sacrifice was for nothing.”

 

She then reached forward, pulling Sans into one last hug.

 

He could feel himself fading, his soul breaking. Frisk’s words sounded distant but they still made him panic.  _ no, you can’t do it. you can’t die. please live. _ He wanted to tell her, to make her see that he didn’t matter, she did. But he couldn’t speak. It was like he wasn’t in control of his body anymore.

 

He felt like he was being pulled down into an all consuming darkness, and all he could think of was how much it hurt to know he was going to lose her. Even if he didn’t witness it.

 

Sans wanted to convince her to stay. But it was too late. He was already sinking further and further into the black void of death. He was already turning to dust.

 

When Sans disappeared in her hold, Frisk grabbed his now dusty jacket, holding it close to her. She looked up to the woman who killed him.

 

“Why? Why is everyone trying to kill me? Why did you kill him?”

 

“6 Human souls. That’s how many we have. When we have 7, we can break the barrier. I won’t let ANYONE stand in my way, not even Sans.” As she said this, Papyrus hesitantly hugged Frisk close. He looked up at Undyne, his eyes starting to glow a dim orange.

 

“Not even me?” He asked, tone dangerous.

 

“What?!” Undyne asked, confused.

 

“You won’t let anyone get in your way. Does that include me? Because I won’t let you hurt my niece. She made my brother happy. And you killed him. I won’t let you take her too.” His voice was dangerous, angry.

 

In this state, Papyrus looked regal. Like he wouldn’t stop at anything short of getting what he wants.

 

“Are you BLIND?!?! That’s a HUMAN! She’s the last thing we need to leave the Underground!”

 

“If she’s what we lose, then the surface isn’t worth it. Nothing can be worth the life of an innocent child.”

 

“This is why I never let you in the Guard. You’re too innocent, too trusting.” Undyne was still angry, yet Papyrus... Papyrus put her anger to shame.

 

“You have taken my brother. You want to take my niece. The only bad person I see here is you, Undyne.” Then, without warning, he sprung. The fight was short and brutal. Even against someone who was after his family, Papyrus hesitated to strike. Undyne seemed to have no qualms striking him down. She used a few calculated moves to lower his health, before trapping him with green magic.

 

“I’ll deal with you later.”

  
Frisk didn’t fight against the spears that came her way. She also learned something new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback? Anyone? What have we done well? What needs work?
> 
> Constructive comments are greatly appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6

Frisk ‘woke’ with a shuddering gasp.

 

“Uhh, I learned a thing.” She said, falling to her knees and holding her hands above her heart, where the spear hit.

 

As he saw Frisk hit the ground, Sans’ eye sockets widened, all of a sudden feeling extremely concerned, maybe even more than he should be. He was immediately at her side, a strange sense of loss nestled in his chest.

 

“wow there, what happened? you learned what?” He asked, for some reason checking her for any injuries she couldn’t possibly have gotten in the short seconds that passed between her being perfectly happy and then just… not.

 

“Brother, what’s wrong, are you okay? What happened to the human?” Papyrus concern was easy to see.

 

“Electrized fish sticks are actually very painful.” Frisk said flatly.

 

“wait… what.” Sans asked completely flabbergasted.

 

“Spears, whatever. It. Hurts. And still hurts, a little. Or maybe a lot?” Frisk answered, her voice squeaking at the end. She flopped cross-legged on the ground, clutching her chest.

 

“did you just say… spears?” Sans muttered in disbelief, his soul sinking.

 

The prospect of what she said was terrifying. When she nodded weakly, expression completely dark and shaken, he felt like someone had just hit him. The sense that he failed Frisk suddenly took over him and he could do nothing but just stare at her.

 

Without thinking, he suddenly took her in his arms, squeezing her tightly. For some reason he felt like it was his job to make her feel better.

 

“S-sans what's going on? Why are you hugging the human? Why are you crying?” Papyrus asked as he hugged them both.

 

Frisk turned into Sans, softly sobbing into his coat.

 

Sans’ grip on her tightened. 

“i’m so sorry, kid.” The words came out unwarranted, like there wasn't a filter between his mind and his mouth. “i should've been there, i should've protected you. i shouldn't have…”

 

He drifted off, eye lights dimming. His entire body tensed as the ghost of an intense pain rang through his chest and spread to his head. 

 

“i promised… i…” The small skeleton’s bones started to rattle and the pounding in his skull intensified. He held it between his hands, a whimper of pain escaping him. “they keep… taking you away… why… i can't… ngh…”

 

He couldn't take how much it hurt. None of his thoughts were making any sense. He pushed away from the other two and curled in on himself, shaking. 

 

“Dad,” Frisk sobbed out the title, “I'd just called you Dad, then, then-” She cut off unable to finish the horrible sentence.

 

He couldn’t gather his thoughts in any way possible. Nothing made sense all of a sudden. It was just a jumbled mess of emotions and incoherent thinking. It was like his mind was currently a puzzle in which most of the pieces were missing. Sans could discern the picture vaguely, but couldn’t tell what it actually was.

 

He glanced at Frisk, her words finally registering into his mind. He held on to them like they were his lifeline and inched closer to her. His eyes were begging for answers to questions he didn’t even know he had. But the word ‘dad’ resonated with him and stirred something inside him.

 

“you… can call me…” The words just came, once again without warning, like a faded memory he’d long forgotten.

 

But when he tried to dig deeper and figure out what it was, the pain in his skull only increased and he doubled over, a sharp cry leaving him as he crashed onto the snowy ground.

 

“Dad!” Frisk cried, rushing over to him. She asked what was wrong, hugging him when he didn't respond.

 

Papyrus rushed over to Sans pulling him into a hug, “Sans I need you to breathe with me, in,out good again in, out.” Papyrus continued to calm Sans, until he was falling asleep.

 

“Human do you know what's going on when did Sans adopt you?” Papyrus asked as he lifted the sleepy Sans in one arm and grabbing Frisk’s hand with the other taking them inside.

 

“Tonight. I-I died. When I die, I go back and try again. I didn't use a key spot in almost half a day, so we went back to that moment.

 

When he heard ‘die’, Sans snapped to attention, his short-lived tranquility once again broken. He started looking around in a disoriented panic, searching for Frisk.

 

“no, please. i can’t… i can’t lose you anymore…” He mumbles, stumbling over his words without actually knowing where they’re coming from.

 

“Dad, I’m here.” Frisk said, going around Papyrus so Sans could see her. “But if you can’t lose me, then don’t... Don’t make me see you die again. Please.” Barely suppressed tears began flowing from her eyes again.

 

“i… died…” He said, absentmindedly raising a hand to his chest. As if by instinct he takes his hand away and stares down at it, almost looking for something that isn’t there. “slash…” He utters quietly.

 

“It was a spear. She was trying to kill me, and you just... Were in front of the weapon. Like you moved there in an instant. And then you... Then you...” Frisk trailed off, unable to finish. “Right in my...”

 

Sans shook his head to try and clear his hazy thoughts. “a spear. Undyne.” He tried to make sense of what she was telling him. “but i…” He trailed off. Everything was just so confusing.

 

Raising his head he looked at Frisk in the eyes, noting how disturbed she was. “i’m sorry, i won’t do it again.” He assures her, knowing that’s what she wants him to say.

 

Finally getting a hold of himself he brings her into a hug.

 

Frisk took a few shuddering breaths, looking up at Sans.

 

“We fight together, and for each other. And when worst comes to worst, we die  _ together.  _ I don't know if that blackness will try to take us over, but if it does... We need to be together.”

 

Sans nodded wordlessly, his mind drifting. The incomplete puzzle was lingering in his thoughts. He was missing something, something important. Closing his eyes he tried to focus enough to get anything from it, but all he got was another headache and a whole lot of nothingness.

 

Giving up he brought his attention back to Frisk. “together.” He agreed.

 

“Okay you two rest I'll make some spaghetti for dinner and then you can explain what's going on to me.” Papyrus told them as he left them on the couch.

 

“Take a nap both of you I'll wake you for dinner, lazybones.”

 

“heh. thanks pap.” Sans smiled tiredly. A nap sounded wonderful right about then.

 

He sunk into the couch cushions, eyes closing of their own accord. Instinctively, his hand reached for Frisk’s, resting over it as he felt himself being pulled into an all consuming darkness.

 

_ “Sans you can't stay here, it's dangerous. Your connection to the void is growing as you get closer to remembering the last time the void took control of your child. Protect her and forget!” The voice from the darkness said. _

 

_ Sans looked all around him for the source of the voice that seemed to be all around him, yet there was nothing there. He felt a pull from the darkness that was becoming harder and harder to ignore. _

 

_ “what do you mean forget? forget what? how can i forget something i just can’t…” He stopped talking when faint, blurred images flashed before his eyes momentarily. “...remember.” _

 

_ “My son, you must ignore the feeling of having forgotten something, or you will remember, and lose the child you have found.” The voice said as he showed his face to Sans preparing to scare him awake again. _

 

The shock of seeing that familiar, yet not, face was enough to jolt Sans back to the waking world, the remnants of a blue-ish glow sparking on his left eye. He sat up choking back a scream, a shudder crawling up his spine.

 

He brought a quivering hand up to rub his skull. He remembered what the voice told him clearly. But its orders were like telling someone not to think of something. Suddenly it was all he could think about. He looked at Frisk, who somehow hadn’t woken up with his sudden movements.

 

Deep in his soul he felt two very conflicting things. Hatred and love. He looked in another direction. “what’s happening to me?” He whispered to himself, trying to curl into as small a ball as he possibly could.

 

“Sans are you okay... “ Papyrus rushed over and hugged his brother pulling him tight to his chest “Deep Breaths Sans in, out good in, out.” Papyrus relaxed as Sans did, noting that Sans latest panic attack had woken Frisk.

 

“Human are you okay?”

 

“He shouldn’t remember. We had to forget. We  _ had to forget _ .  If we mess up again, we won’t be able to go back. Someone was talking to me. They called themselves a ‘Child of the Void.’ They said that they were corrupted long ago.  The Void used them to corrupt me, but they were able to erase memories with someone's help to save us from the corruption.” 

 

Sans’ eyes slowly moved to look at Frisk, confusion written all over his face. “what are you talking about?” He asked. “forget what? remember what?” The volume of his voice was rising with each unanswered question, anger starting to seep through. “why does nothing make sense anymore?” He growled, holding his head between his hands.

 

His pupils dimmed gradually until they were gone altogether. “it’s your fault, isn’t it? all of this is happening because of you!” He shouted, feeling a burning rage starting to take over him, completely unable to stop it. “everyone is dead!”

 

As soon as those words left his mouth, he froze. His breaths were coming out in uneven huffs and he felt ready to faint.

 

“Darn your memories aren't staying sealed like I hoped they would. Dad was right, I'm not strong enough to seal them. We need to save him if we want to free you two from the void’s hold.” Papyrus said with tears in his eyes holding both Frisk and Sans to himself.

 

In a panicked frenzy, Sans pushes Papyrus away. He stands between him and Frisk, shooting her an icy glare that would chill anyone to the bone.

 

“s-stay away from my brother…” He hisses at her, unexplained anger completely blinding him.

 

“Sans, you need to calm down. You're having a flashback, Frisk, your sweet daughter is standing in front of you, don’t push her away.” Papyrus said as he grabbed Sans’ shoulder pulling Sans into a hug.

 

Frisk stood, eyes slightly glazed over. She was doing her best not to get too upset, but she could barely hold back her sorrow. She had practically been rejected by the man she considered her father. First her blood father leaves her for dead, and now... Sans hated her.

 

“Sans? Please, I’m not gonna do anything. I won’t, just please, don’t hate me!” Frisk sniffled, not daring to approach Sans.

 

“I won’t even call you Dad if you don’t want me to, I’ll do anything to keep you from hating me!”

 

Sans tried to block her out. “stop. stop with all the lies. you’ll just come back to finish the job.”

 

He lifted a shaking hand towards her, eye sockets devoid of light. “you’ll just keep coming back to kill us all… i’ll only stop hating you once you’re dead for good.” A blaster appeared suddenly in front of him, blocking her completely out of his sight.

 

“Then kill me. I’ll do my best to not come back. I just won’t come back. Anything.” She said, tensing in preparation.

 

“NO NO NO YOU CAN’T SANS DON’T YOU DARE KILL HER” Papyrus shouted as he pushed Sans behind him and reached for Frisk as the blaster fired killing them both.

 

Sans collapsed to his knees, blue tears pooling at the corners of his sockets. “Paps…” He whispered, his voice completely broken. “Frisk…”

 

His soul was surrounded by an unbearable guilt that threatened to choke him. He started crying uncontrollably, trying desperately to hold himself together. He felt like he could turn to dust if someone so much as blew on him.

  
“what have i done…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Do you hate us yet?


	7. Chapter 7

Papyrus was late for training. That meant something was amiss, Papyrus was always on time. Undyne decided that she needed to go check on her favorite pupil. She bundled up to prepare for the cold of Snowdin.

 

Walking towards Snowdin Undyne heard some unsettling rumors. There had apparently been a major fight between the skeleton brothers in their house and neither had been seen since it happened. She picked up her pace hoping Sans was okay. Papyrus would be heartbroken if Sans had lost his one Hp in a fight.

 

When Undyne reached the skeleton brothers house she could hear heart wrenching sobs from behind the door. Oh no, that was a bad sign. She pushed open the door to see Sans weeping on the floor, a pile of dust, a human body, and a burn mark.

 

“What happened Sans?” was all she could ask tears forming in her eye.

 

At the sound of someone’s voice, Sans’ head turned. His face was stained with the tears that still streamed down his cheekbones. When he saw Undyne standing there, the guilt he felt only doubled, tripled, increased tenfold. Every bone in his body hurt to the point that even the slightest of movements were torture. He was all but consumed by grief and remorse.

 

He dragged himself to the captain of the royal guard’s feet and continued weeping there. “do it.” He said, expecting her to have figured out what happened already.

 

“Do what Sans? What happened? Did the human have fire magic? Are you okay?” Undyne bent down and realized that Sans was ‘falling’ torn apart by guilt. 

 

“Don’t destroy yourself Sans, I’m sure you did everything you could to prevent his d-death.” Undyne said as she broke down into tears.  

 

The fact that she still believed he’d tried to protect his brother only made him feel more miserable. “you don’t understand…” He cried, grabbing her by the shoulders. “i did this, Undyne! i killed them!”

 

Undyne recoiled at Sans’ words and suddenly what he had been saying and the scene came together in her mind. Papyrus, the idiot, must have tried to protect the human and Sans’ attack had killed them both. 

 

She pulled Sans into her arms stroking his back trying to calm him as she sobbed herself. “It’s not your fault, Papyrus shouldn’t have got in the way.”

 

He shoved her away forcefully. “no. you  _ don’t _ understand.” 

 

His voice was low and threatening. She wasn’t seeing it how it was. She was trying to comfort him when all he deserved was to die. His left eye came to life in a burning flame.

 

“if you don’t get it… i’ll make you.” He told her through gritted teeth. This was the only way she’d see. He knew that now. His only option was to turn against her and hope she’d end his miserable excuse for a life.

 

He summoned forth another blaster and pointed it straight at her, intentionally missing.

 

The heat of Sans’ attack went right by her ear. Undyne cursed. Who knew the lazybones had so much power?

 

With tears in her eye she summoned a spear and threw it at Sans, who didn’t even dodge. “I’m sorry Papyrus” She said as she collapsed to the ground crying.

 

_ The darkness was suffocating. Frisk felt trapped in a never-ending darkness. She felt horrible. Papyrus had died, and even though going back could bring him back, she couldn't will herself to go through Sans’ hate Again. _

 

_ It hadn't gone back yet, so she thought that maybe she had managed to stay dead this time. _

 

_ But the darkness. It was overwhelming. There was something there, and she knew it, but it didn't reveal itself. _

 

_ There was only the darkness. It was all Frisk could think about. Dark. _

 

_ A room. Three days, left in that room, locked in.  _

 

_ Father was too ‘worried’ about Frisk, keeping her locked up ‘for her own safety’. And it wasn’t the first time too. _

 

_ Nothing to do. _

 

_ Just do exactly what Father says. Then no room. No darkness. No  _ **_death._ **

 

“Sans you bonehead, numbskull, idiot, you, you, you smiley trashbag” Papyrus shouted pulling Frisk behind him protecting her.

 

Sans turned in the direction of Papyrus’ voice and for the briefest of moments he felt relieved. They were both alive… But then the reason why they wouldn’t be sunk in. He felt lightheaded, and dizzy, and then he felt sick. He was completely and utterly disgusted with himself.

 

The feelings of shame, guilt and desperation that plagued his soul were so intense he doubled over, magic rising up and out of his mouth. He choked on it, shivering from the nasty sensation.

 

The cold snow beneath him did nothing to ease any of his discomfort. He deserved every bit of pain he felt. There were tears pooling at his eye sockets, and he felt so weak and useless.

 

And when his thoughts settled on what happened prior to ‘regaining his consciousness’, everything started to hurt again. He hugged himself to keep from completely breaking down.

 

“i’m so sorry.” He muttered. “i’m so, so sorry…”

 

He expected them to yell at him, to hate him, hit him even. But nothing came. Just silence. And somehow, that was even worse.

 

Frisk was relieved when the darkness finally passed. But she was also very, very scared. She had disobeyed an order. When Sans got sick, she was stuck with indecision. She settled on staying where she was. He was already going to be upset that she came back, but she didn’t want to go back.

 

She didn’t want to go back.

 

She started shaking, tears welling in her eyes.

 

Sans’ gaze fell on Frisk and when he saw the glimmer in her eyes his soul nearly shattered. He went to reach for her until he realized that the reason she was crying was probably because of him. What right did he have to comfort her?

 

He let his head fall and gave up on trying. He was a disgrace. He didn’t deserve to comfort her. He didn’t deserve her happiness. He should just disappear and let her and Papyrus be happy together. They didn’t need him. They didn’t  _ want him _ after what he did.

 

Sans wanted to take a shortcut out of there and just stay gone. He tried to do it but his magic didn’t seem to be enough anymore. What he expelled must have been enough to deplete his levels to the point where he couldn’t teleport. But still he kept trying. He didn’t care that it was hurting. He didn’t care that it could kill him. He wanted to die.

 

“Sans stop, please stop” Papyrus yelled as he rushed to his brother. 

 

Sans however didn’t stop. He kept trying to use magic he didn’t have so Papyrus had no choice, but to knock him out cold, with a hit to the back of the head.

 

Frisk stared as her Father broke down, frantically using his magic. She was worried for him. She just didn't know what to do. She simply went to stand by Papyrus, her posture formal and proper.

 

Papyrus lifted Sans into his arms and began walking to the house, “Come on Frisk, let's get this bonehead in bed.”

 

Papyrus noticed that Frisk was acting odd. She hadn’t said a word since the reset and seemed to be scared of something. Papyrus hoped getting to relax and Sans to tell her that he still wanted her as his daughter would help.

 

“Frisk I hope you realize Sans still wants to be your dad. You being his little girl makes him very happy.”

 

Frisk nodded, then decided that hugging Papyrus would be ok. She nuzzled into his chest, before backing away again. She gave a smile, hoping it didn’t seem as strained as it was.

 

Papyrus could tell that Frisk was in fact not okay, but could see no way to help her feel better. Sans was probably the only one who could.

 

“The void is trying to tear you apart, but I believe in you! You can be great! But either way Sans shouldn’t have done a violence ”

 

“Tear us... apart? Do great? I-I uhhh. Ok, I’ll try. But... I keep remembering... It didn’t reset right away, and the darkness. I hate it. It reminds me of my original Father. He... Did some bad things to me. And payed enough money that he never had to stop.” Frisk said, trying to at least tell someone why she was acting like that.

 

Papyrus could feel Sans stirring in his arms as Frisk spoke. 

 

“Has Sans ever caused you to feel that he would hurt you the way your Father did dear human? I know Sans has hurt you lately and feels awful for doing so. Can you forgive this lazybones?” As Papyrus asked he felt Sans stiffen in his arms

 

Sans was vaguely aware of the fact that he was being carried by his brother. He still felt disoriented and like he couldn’t move a finger if he tried. But he could hear the ongoing conversation.

 

Papyrus was putting it lightly. Feeling awful would be a mercy compared to what he was actually going through. All he could feel was like he deserved death and suffering. And not only had he actually killed his  _ family _ , he’d made Frisk relive painful memories she had every right to forget.

 

He wished he could just turn to dust by simply willing it.

 

“I hate the darkness. Please, don't make me... don't make me go back...”  Frisk said, her voice weak, wavering. “I don't want to go to the room. Please, please.”

 

Her voice wavered. She took a deep breath, calming.

 

“It's strange. I mean, I was ‘conditioned’ by my father. But I managed to keep some of myself unchanged. But when I go through something that reminds me of it, I get caught back in that mindset. I’m trying, I mean, I know D- Sans will need my help, but I just don’t know. He told me to go to the darkness. A-and I don’t know why he did...

 

“And I’m scared. You said that he still wants to be my dad. But then why? I-I just don’t get it. What did I do wrong?” Frisk had that slight tone that just begged to know.

 

“Sans loves you, Frisk. He is fighting the demons that chase you both.” Papyrus said shifting Sans and pulling Frisk into a hug. “He will tell you himself when he stops pretending to sleep.”

 

Sans grunted at what his brother said. And then whimpered. His entire being still ached from the unbearable guilt. He kept quiet, not wanting to say anything because he knew that whatever he had to say wouldn’t change a thing. Everything he’d done wouldn’t be erased. It couldn’t possibly be forgiven. So why even try?

 

“Da-Sa... Can I at least still call you dad?” Frisk asked, raising one hand to touch Sans’ arm.

 

He flinched away from her touch, not because he didn’t want her to touch him. He felt he didn’t deserve her kindness. Unable to find his voice, he hid his head into Papyrus’ chest. He wondered why she’d want to call him dad when all he’d done was fail her. He didn’t deserve such a title.

 

“Sans you’re an idiot, she needs you. You both deserve each other, you make eachother happy. So skeleton up and act like an adult and comfort your daughter.” Papyrus said as he entered the house.

 

“Besides she needs you bonehead.” he whispered in his ear as he put them down on the couch.

 

“she doesn’t need me.” Sans finally voiced his thoughts. “she’s better off without me, you both are. i’m just a sorry excuse for a person.”

 

He curled up into a ball, inching away from Frisk, almost afraid that if he touched her, he’d hurt her again.

 

Seeing that words weren’t working, Frisk chose a different approach. She inched towards him, not quite confident enough for a hug, instead leaning on him.

 

“You are my pillow now. I am tired, and you are going to sit there and you are going to. Be. My. Pillow.”

 

The short skeleton simply sat there for what felt like forever, shellshocked. For the briefest of moments, all he felt was a comfortable warmth settling on his chest. His hands trembled slightly as he slowly lowered them over her. He was completely baffled as to how she’d still want to even be close to him after what he’d done.

 

Gaining a little of his confidence back, he closed his eyes and tightened his hold ever so slightly. He didn’t deserve this, he didn’t deserve  _ her _ and her love. But he was selfish. So he reveled in the feeling of having her in his arms again, alive and breathing. His little girl.

 

When he tightened his grip on her, Frisk allowed herself to  _ finally  _ relax. “Hmmm... Best pillow ever.” She said sleepily.

 

Papyrus smiled, getting a blanket out of his closet and draping it over the sleepy pair. Relaxed, Frisk found herself drifting into a deep sleep.

 

‘ _ I’m finally safe again.’ _

 

Sans felt her breathing steadying. The conflict he felt before was still there, swirling inside his skull. How could he possibly have something so precious? It didn’t feel right. She should have someone who knew how to take care of her. Not…  _ him _ .

 

He opened his eyes and looked at Papyrus, who was still lingering. He could tell his brother was tense. And he knew exactly why. He expected him to lose himself again at any moment. Looking down at Frisk, sleeping soundly in his arms, he felt a shiver go down his spine. His gaze darted around the room until it settled on Papyrus.

  
  


His eyes were filled with fear of himself and what he could do. The flashbacks could hit him at any time, he knew. He still didn’t quite know what they were about and he knew he shouldn’t try to figure out.

 

His breath caught in his throat. He was starting to panic.

 

Seeing his brother looking so frazzled, Papyrus gently lifted Sans and Frisk up, trying not to wake Frisk. She stirred a little, but settled right back down after Papyrus sat on the couch under them.

 

“It’s a Sanswich. You can’t be sad anymore. Not as a Sanswich. I said so, so it must be true.”  Papyrus said, his voice quiet.

 

Sans chuckled momentarily, trying not to shake Frisk awake. He felt comfortable in his brother’s arms. “heh. you always know what to do.” He acknowledged in a whisper. “you’re so cool.”

 

He let his eyes fall closed. For a while there was nothing but a sweet silence. “i’m sorry.” Sans uttered, unsure if there was actually anyone to hear him. Even if no one had, he had to say it to relieve the burden in his conscience. At least a little. He settled into a troubled sleep not long after.


	8. Chapter 8

Papyrus awoke to someone’s shifting. He opened his eyes, suddenly realizing he had training with Undyne in… He stared at the clock above the couch and his eye sockets widened. 30 minutes. Accounting for the time it took to get from Snowdin to Undyne’s house, even with the Riverperson’s help, he had a total of 5 minutes to leave.

 

Which would’ve been completely fine… Were it not for the unbelievably entangled mess of human and skeleton bodies he found himself under. Somehow, during the night, Sans and Frisk had managed to squirm their way into an impossible position.

 

Frisk was lying on Sans’ back, an arm wrapped tightly around one of his. Now that would’ve been easy enough to deal with. However, the shorter of the two brothers had hooked his other arm around Papyrus’ spine  _ through _ his ribs, and also had one leg going underneath one of his and over the other.

 

The tall skeleton measured his options. He could try to carefully get himself out of this situation, taking up most likely all of the time he had… or he could wake them up so he could leave.

 

But they looked so peaceful and most important of all… Adorable. He dug his phone out of wherever he had it and snapped another picture. Now that’s out of the way… What to do?

 

Frisk woke with a small yawn. She opened her eyes, and was met with Papyrus’ face near to her own. He looked... Flustered.

 

“Unkie Paps?” She asked, sleepiness causing her to sound even younger then her preteen age.

 

Papyrus’ gaze lowered from Frisk to his current predicament and then back into her eyes. His entire expression just read ‘help’.

 

Unfortunately for them, just as she was about to carefully climb off of Sans’ back, he jolted awake from what could only have been a nightmare. He tried to get up, his left eye aflame.

 

Frisk immediately fell to the floor from it. And then as he attempted to get away from whatever threat his dreams had conjured, having both his arm and leg hooked into Papyrus, they both came crashing down on top of her.

 

Sans groaned in unison with Papyrus. “ouch…”

 

“Uggh. You guys are supposed to be lighter, you’re just skeletons... Get off!” Frisk grumbled, ineffectual trying to push them off.

 

The other two crawled off of her, the smaller of the two just collapsing a little ways away and going back to snoring softly. Apparently self-hatred was very exhausting.

 

“Mrugh. I guess we should get up...” Frisk started, “But Dad is goin’ back ‘ta sleep. Can I go back ‘ta sleep, Unkie Paps?” Without waiting for an answer, Frisk crawled over to Sans, plopping back on top of him  earning an ‘oompf’ from him .

 

Papyrus sighed, picking the two sleepy heads up to Sans’ room. However, upon seeing the state of the bed, he spun and instead placed the sleepy bundle on his own bed.

 

He left a quick note on Sans’ forehead, then set off for training.

 

Sans woke up once again sometime later, surprisingly without having another nightmare. He felt a literal weight on his shoulders. For half a second he thought it was the weight of his sins until he tried to turn around and was met with a small groan. He twisted his neck so that he could see what was going on and came face to face with Frisk’s sleep-filled eyes staring at him.

 

“You’ve got a note on your head. Says that Unkie Paps went to train with Undyne.” Frisk informed. She then  pulled the note off of his forehead, showing it to him.

 

“We should probably get up.” Frisk said, before letting her head drop down onto Sans’ back. “Carrrryyyyyy meeeeeeee.” She demanded in a whiny tone, grasping at Sans.

 

He pondered what to do for a moment and then sighed heavily, deciding his grievances were better left for another time. “i would but you’re kinda on top of me…”

 

She didn’t make a move to get off of him and he turned back to face her. Raising a brow ridge at her, Sans gave her an inquisitive look, to which she just grinned. “if you don’t get off i’ll make ya.” He warned with a bit of mirth.

 

“Ok!” Frisk said cheerily, hugging Sans tightly.

 

Sans grunted as he tried to get himself off the floor with her holding on to him. But halfway through he decided it was too much effort and flopped back on the ground. “you know what, nevermind. i think i’ll just stay here for today.”

 

“Ok, ok, I’ll get off, you lazybones. Geez Dad, would it kill you to work out a bit?” Frisk teased, voice light and joking.

 

“i don’t know, if it did maybe i should try it…” He mumbled into the floor, his mood darkening suddenly. “hey!” He yelped, Frisk flicking the back of his skull. He brought a hand up to rub over the spot and glared back at her before realizing her eyes were glistening with tears.

 

He turned around and sat up then, looking at the floor ashamed. He reached out for one of her hands and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. “i’m sorry, kid… really… for everything.”

 

“I said together. And I meant it. If you go off and die, I’m not gonna keep going without you, Dad. I’ll just go back, and we’ll do it together.” Frisk warned, before burying her head into his chest. She sniffed, leaning into Sans and hugging him tightly.

 

“I just don’t want to lose you...” Frisk muttered, voice muffled by Sans’ jacket. She then pulled away from the hug, eyes red from crying. She slowly stood, walking out of the room. When she noticed Sans sitting and staring at the ground, she turned back and offered her hand.

 

“Let’s go make breakfast, okay?” She asked, a large smile on her face.

 

He stared at her hand for a minute before actually raising his gaze to her face. Her beaming smile sent a wonderful warmth straight to his soul and he took her hand with a small smile of his own.

 

“alright. i’ll bite.” He said with a smirk.

 

As they cooked, or rather, Frisk cooked, and Sans cheered her on, Frisk’s bright smile remained. She felt a warmth all around her. When she finished the pancakes, she offered one to Sans, almost anxiously awaiting his reaction to her cooking.

 

He took one tentative bite into his mouth and froze still. His pupils brightened slightly when he looked back at Frisk and grinned. “your cookin sure takes the cake.” He said going straight back to eating.

 

“you butter keep this up. it’s eggcelent.” Sans commented after each forkful, stealing glances at her reactions. “olive it to bits.”

 

“Eh, that last one coulda been better. Not even used in pancakes.” Frisk judged, her face serious. 

 

He shrugged with a cheeky grin. “oh well, they can’t all be wieners.” 

 

Frisk glared at him, before starting to chuckle. In moments, she was full on laughing.

 

The rest of the morning went in a similar manner: Every time Frisk would finally calm down, Sans would set her off with some horrible food pun.

 

His laughter drifted off with her own. A comfortable silence settled around them and Sans closed his eyes, enjoying the stillness. After what happened it was nice to have a moment of quiet, both in and outside of his mind. But after what felt like forever of them just sitting there, quietly savoring each other’s company, he decided that their issues should be addressed. Even if neither of them actually wanted to.

 

“look kid… i don’t really know what’s going on, and someone told me i shouldn’t think about it… but i have to at least try to make sense of something. do you know what’s happening to me? to us?” He asked her carefully, hoping it wouldn’t set any of them off. “why is it that i feel like you matter so much to me and at the same time…” 

 

He fell silent then, not wanting to say the rest. He didn’t want to tell her that a part of him, deep down in his soul, was afraid of her and what she could do to everyone. It was like there were two versions of Frisk and he could never be sure which was in his presence.

 

“I don’t actually know much myself...” Frisk trailed off for a moment, before leaning into Sans’ side as they sat on the couch. “There was someone in the void, back when I slept once. They said that they took my memories to save me from the void. They said that if I was the only one being corrupted that they might have been able to help me without altering my memories, but someone else was being lost to the hatred of the void.”

 

Frisk paused in their speech, looking up at Sans. “I guess that was probably you. They said that they were being used to corrupt both of us. That the void was using their hatred to possess me. That I wasn’t myself for a long time.

 

“And that our past bond was used to get a hold of you, too.”

 

Sans didn’t know what to say to that. He stared at the ground for a few heartbeats before turning back to Frisk. “past bond? d-do you remember a time before this?” He asked after the words registered into his mind.

 

“i mean…” One of his hands came to rest above his chest. “i feel like… we definitely share something… i just wish i knew what.”

 

“I don’t remember. But I think it was probably the same as we have now. I mean, if we have no memories of each other, we’d probably do the same things as before, right?” Frisk asked.

 

“And for some reason, I don’t see us being anything but family together. But... I think I might have been younger when I first fell into the Underground. I-I think I age even through the repeats.”

 

He reached for one of her hands and rubbed soft circles on them, pulling her head to rest on his shoulder. “no one should have to go through something like that.”

 

Sans gently pet her head, unable to find the words to comfort her. “i know i’m not worthy of being your dad, you deserve so much better. but i’ll try to be here for you.”

 

“Ya, well, you deserve a child who won't turn around and kill like a madwoman. But you love me anyways. So you had better try your best, ‘cuz I’m doing the same” Frisk responded, angry at Sans’ self destructive behavior.

 

The skeleton laughed at her fierceness. “geez, kiddo, alright.” He ruffled her hair. “your best is good enough for me.”

 

He leaned back into the couch and stared up at the ceiling. “can i ask ya something, Frisk?”

 

Papyrus walked through the door to see his two favorite people sitting together on the couch. He smiled they were perfect together. “I see you two are getting along. That’s great, the great Papyrus shall make celebratory spaghetti!”

 

“Sounds great, Unkie Paps.” Frisk said, barely holding her annoyed moan back. “Dad and I were talking about something, we’ll head over to the kitchen in a moment.”

 

Sans’ eyes followed Papyrus walking into the kitchen. “actually, it’s not important.” He told her, shrugging nonchalantly. “let’s just go make sure he doesn’t burn the house down… wouldn’t be the first time.” He added with a smile.

 

He got up from the couch, hands stuffed into his jacket pockets. His posture was still a little slumped but he was feeling much better than he did the day before. Secretly, he hoped that everything that happened could just be buried like it never happened. It technically didn’t, despite him having vivid memories of it now. Perhaps whatever he forgot from before, was actually better left that way.

 

At the entrance to the kitchen he turned back to Frisk, forcing a grin onto his face. “you comin?” 

 

Frisk gave him a sour look, before muttering out a small “ya.” She really didn’t like it when Sans avoided saying what was on his mind like that.

 

“TURN up the heat frisk! Sans stop being such a lazy bones and punch those tomatoes like you mean it!” Papyrus shouted totally into the swing of making the best spaghetti ever.

 

Papyrus watched to see how Sans and Frisk were interacting and was pleased to see them getting along well. However, he also saw some tension in both of them.

 

After they finished with their meal, which surprisingly Frisk had managed to salvage, they decided to sit and watch some TV. One of Metaton’s quiz shows was on and no one but Papyrus was actually paying it any mind. Sans’ thoughts started drifting to what would happen next. He looked at Frisk and decided that staying here wasn’t the life she deserved. The question he was going to ask her earlier before Pap had arrived swam around in his head and he really wanted the answer.

 

“Frisk, do you think we’ll ever make it to the surface together?” He finally brought himself to ask.

 

“Mmhm!” Frisk assents. “If you wanna go up, then sure!”

 

Her enthusiastic response actually sparked a little hope inside him. To finally be free… To see the surface and all the things it had to offer. He didn’t realize until then how much he actually wanted to get out, not only for himself, but for her and his brother and the lady behind the door. For everyone. And for some reason he had this feeling that Frisk would be the one to guide them there.

 

“i’ll help you.” He suddenly decided. “we’re gonna make it out of here, together.” 

  
Papyrus smiled. Everything was going to be alright. When Sans had a goal, he worked towards it with a single minded fury that no one could match. “Of course you’ll need my help as well. With me on your team the barrier dosen’t stand a chance” Papyrus boasted.

**Author's Note:**

> Song for this fic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1YQgjpnJdo  
> Suggested by Nox Lunaria  
> (If we get more songs suggested, it might become a playlist instead of just a song *wink*)


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